Souls Tangled In Love
by What Other Planet
Summary: Stuck in Argus and waiting for their comrades to catch up, Team JN(P)R make some promises. J/N/R with posthumous discussion of J/N/P/R.


The Cotta-Arc house was surprisingly roomy—a comms engineer's salary was a comfortable sum—and the guest bedroom was no exception. It had a full-size bed and plenty of space for an air mattress, which Nora hadn't quite gotten around to inflating yet.

The windows over the ordinary bed looked out over the street, and she found herself staring out at the sunset through the falling snow. Argus was a really nice town. Nicer than she'd expected. Normally, big cities put Nora on edge almost as much as the open wilderness, but Argus had a sleepy charm to it.

A hand in her hair drew her out of her thoughts and brought a big warm smile to her face. She flopped back onto the bed, staring up at her… boyfriend? They hadn't quite put a label on what they were, but even quiet ol' Ren had admitted that it was probably about time they called a spade a spade.

Whatever they were in this precise moment, Ren's smile was doing dangerous things to the speed of Nora's heart. But, as much as she wanted to just lean up and kiss him—and kiss him some more—and do a whole lot more than kissing—neither of them made a move. There was one other piece of their situation they still needed to resolve.

Faint grumbles drifted across the room, from where Jaune was sitting at a desk, poring over a map of Northern Anima. Nora slowly sat up, and Ren moved to her side, the two of them lost in the same thoughts as they watched their leader grasp at straws.

It'd only been a couple days, but they still had no word from Team RWBY. News had come through that the back end of the train had derailed, but the blizzard had buried the wreckage, and the Atlas military garrison had been _unhelpful _when Jaune had suggested they send search parties, because "repairing the railway takes priority."

Which left Team JNR with no choice but to wait, and Jaune… wasn't taking the waiting well.

It hurt to see him like this. She wanted to help, to ease some of the pain off those broad shoulders. And… well…

She glanced back up at Ren one more time, meeting bright and familiar eyes. "So…" she murmured, "y'know… about that thing, that thing we talked about?"

She darted her eyes in Jaune's direction.

Ren nodded. "I think we're of the same mind," he said softly. He shifted his hold on her, planting a soft kiss on her forehead. "You can ask him. I'm ready."

A nervous thrill shot down her spine at the idea. "Well, okay, I guess," she said. Still, she hesitated.

This was a big deal. She and Ren had talked about this weeks ago, but there'd just never been the time to bring it up before. Now, they had nothing _but _time, but it was _scary _and _hard _and she could _never _take it back, and how would _he _take it anyway, would he—

She felt a hand on hers, fingers twining. She felt the quiet hum of Ren's semblance—not reaching out to her yet, but hovering at the very edge of her own aura. Present, if she needed it.

She smiled, squeezing his hand. She was strong enough for this. They both were.

"Hey, Jaune?"

The boy looked up from the map he was examining, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the dim beyond the desk lamp. "What's up, Nora?"

She swallowed, feeling sparkles in her guts. Ren squeezed her hand gently.

"So," she said. "We just wanted you to know, we've been talking, and we decided that we're officially… _together, _together."

"Oh." Jaune looked surprised, before breaking out into a warm smile. "Congrats, guys." There was a pointed silence, and Jaune's expression slowly fell. "Is… something wrong?"

"Well," Ren said, shifting on the bed behind Nora."When we came to that decision, we decided we had something we wanted to ask you, as well."

A puzzled look took Jaune's face at the sobriety in their tones. He turned his chair, his focus fully on them. Uncertain, but not worried. "Sure. Go ahead?"

Nora closed her eyes. Imagining herself saying the words. Over, and over, and over, and then just as it was becoming a mantra, she opened her mouth—

"We wanted to know…" her voice quaked, just a little, "if you wanted to join us?"

Jaune's head tilted. "S-sorry?"

Nora steeled herself, and clarified the question. "Would you like to be… _together, _together. With us?"

It was quiet. Nora didn't like quiet. Quiet was lonely. Quiet was the lack of human sounds, a space soon to be filled with the noises of the bugs and rats that shared your home with you, or the sound of cold wind on your skin, or the sound of Grimm just beyond your sight—

"Yeah."

She looked up.

Jaune swallowed. There was still tension in his shoulders, but his eyes were bright.

Beside her, Ren shifted uneasily. _"Both _of us?"

This was the sticking point. The part they'd spent hours talking over, worrying about Jaune's answer. What it would mean to them, how much it could hurt them, both as a team of hunters and as people…

...and Jaune blew all that worry away in an instant. "Of course!"

The relief that flowed out of Ren was like an avalanche. It didn't look like much, just his shoulders relaxing and his hand clasping a little less tightly with Nora's, but she'd gotten good at reading him, even when he was trying not to be read. She smiled, pulling him shoulder to shoulder.

"Well," she said. "Get over here silly!"

Jaune's eyes blew deer-in-headlights wide. "N-now?"

Ren nodded gently, a smile breaking out as he leaned back into Nora. "Only if you want to," he added. Nora patted the bed beside them.

Jaune joined them awkwardly. He still had the silly onesie he'd had back at Beacon, which was hilarious on its own, but put together with the serious look on his face, Nora couldn't help but giggle. "It's not a job interview, y'know," she said as he sat down.

"O-of course not!" Jaune said, looking utterly stunned. "This is _way _more important."

Nora laughed, and beside her Ren chuckled too. A smile shone through Jaune's worry, but he still hesitated to close the distance between them.

They'd have to work on that, but there was no reason it couldn't be fun. "So, hey," Nora said, casting a funny look Jaune's way. "Just so ya know, I got dibs."

"Dibs?"

Ren sighed, palming his face. "We played rock-paper-scissors," he said. "To decide which one of us gets to ask you for a kiss first."

If Jaune had the words to respond to that, he wasn't getting them out in any form that resembled speech.

"Well it wasn't like we could just talk it out!" Nora protested, bubbling on the edge of laughter. "I mean, we _both _wanna kiss you. But we also care too much about each other fight over it. It was the only fair way to do it!"

Jaune was doing a fairly convincing impression of a turnip. "I… uh… I guess that makes sense?"

Nora's smile dimmed a bit. "You _can _appeal the decision, ya know."

"No! I mean!" Jaune looked away. "I don't mind, I just, I… I haven't had very long to think about this, y'know? My first kiss _ever _was… last fall."

This time the silence chilled them all, like the wind outside had broken through the walls. The sunset bled past the window, painting the room orange and red.

"...I wish she was here," Nora said, her voice wavering like thin glass. She hugged herself, holding on against the torrent of anguish that rushed in with the memories.

"Me too," Ren said. "I don't know if we'd be having this conversation if she was, but…"

"We would," Jaune said. He scooted closer and wrapped his arms around them, so much stronger than his noodly body looked. "Pyrrha… I wish I'd had more time to realize it, but she loved us so much. Not just me, but you two as well. Whenever we were alone, she'd talk about you guys. Nora, she thought you were the funniest person she'd ever met. Sometimes she got so overwhelmed with all the expectations people put on her, but you made it _worth _it, for her. Sparring with you always reminded her why she loved being a huntress, and it seemed like every time she talked to you, she _glowed _for the rest of the day."

Nora sniffled hard, pressing her face into Jaune's shoulder and letting her tears stain his onesie. "Nn…"

"And Ren, she… she _loved _meditating with you. She was used to rushing through things, trying to fill every moment with training, with growth, with _action, _but you taught her how to slow down, how to enjoy just _existing. _You gave her a kind of peace she'd never had before."

Ren's eyes were wide, shining as he sniffed and lowered his head to mirror Nora's. He didn't say anything either.

"I don't know if she even realized it," Jaune continued, squeezing them tighter as his voice hitched. "But she loved you both _so much _."

"Y-y-you know s-she loved you too, right?" Nora said, her voice coming out stuttery and frantic.

Jaune nodded. "Y-yeah. I just… wish I'd realized it sooner."

Ren lifted his head, tapping his forehead against Jaune's. "You know it now," he said. "We all do."

"Mhm," Nora mumbled. She looked up at them, unable to keep the big dumb smile off her face as she wiped her tears and snot off on her sleeve. "And she's still here. Even if we can't see her. Nobody's ever really gone. And someday, in another life… we'll get to prove how much we love her too."

"Yeah," Jaune said, looking at her with the most fragile smile. "Someday, for sure."

She wasn't sure which of them moved first, but _gods _his lips were nice, the way his arm held her close to him, the way Ren hugged them both so tight.

She parted from him, memorizing the color of his eyes in the lower light, promising silently that she'd never forget them. Even when her body died and her memories turned to smoke, she'd keep that blue etched against her soul, just like she'd done with Ren's pink, just like Pyrrha's brilliant green. She'd keep their colors, and she'd _find _them. Again and again and again, until they all fell right off the wheel of reincarnation.

She giggled, letting those heavier thoughts pass and giving Jaune a sultry smirk. "Well, how did I do?"

Jaune swallowed, unable to hide his smile. "W-wow."

Ren coughed, politely, and Nora almost busted a gut right there on the spot as Jaune snapped his head around. "Oh, god, sorry Ren, I—"

Jaune stopped, when Ren pressed a finger against his lips, and then sighed as Ren replaced the finger with a deep and tender kiss. It was… quite a sight, and Nora found herself enraptured as they slowly fell towards the sheets.

"Wow," Nora said, grinning. "I wonder if I can get the gods to let me take this image into the next life with me?"

Ren glared at her. "Nora…" he sighed, even as Jaune cut off a laugh.

"What? My boyfriends are cuu~uute. I can say that now, right?" Jaune's eyes widened, and Nora felt a stone sink in her gut. "Uh, unless, that's not actually what we—"

"No! I mean yes!" Jaune sat up, nearly dislodging Ren and instead forcing him to straddle Jaune's hips, which left both of them _even more flustered._

It was just _too _cute. Nora couldn't help but launch herself into both of them and rain kisses across both of their faces.

They kissed a thousand times that night, to make up for lost time, but eventually even Nora found herself worn out. She relaxed, tucked between the two men she loved, listening to them breathe into her hair.

She'd never felt so secure, so sure that whatever happened next, she'd be okay with it in the end. Even if it hurt, even if they all fell to Salem's armies, even if the Kingdoms grew dark and the Grimm devoured the land. She smiled, closing her eyes and willing that Pyrrha could see them too.

_Look! We're here, we're okay, and we love you. We love you and we miss you __**so much.**_

_And, if I can make one selfish request, please don't reincarnate without us? I want us all to join the next life together, but there's still a lot of stuff Nora Valkyrie has to do on Remnant. So just hang on a little longer, okay?_

It might've been her imagination, but Nora thought she heard the wind pick up for a moment against the windowpane, and she couldn't stop smiling as she finally drifted off to sleep.

Because souls tangled in love will always meet again, as surely as the sky turns round.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Yes I know team RWBY were only gone like 24 hours in canon I just felt like it.**

**I've had this rattling around in the back of my head since before V7 aired, and it just finally came together after reading "Together For A Lifetime" by LesbianKeys and loveshroom, (which is a fantastic little fic you should definitely read if you want to cry a lot).**

**This is not IMEBG-verse canon (Greatverse? is that gonna have to be a thing?), but... you can think of it like if the Greatverse versions of JNR were placed in the canon timeline. Nora's religious leanings here are the same ones she has in IMEBG and Panoply, for instance.**

**(And yes, that does mean that these feelings exist over in Panoply too...)**

**Thanks to Shockfactor and FriendofYggdrasil for giving this one a read-through! And thank you for reading!**

**And always remember: Cordovan was a collective hallucination. She's not real. She can't hurt you.**


End file.
